Deolater 2019

deolater · Apr 2, 2019

Here's an after shot of that numex twilight. I'm not sure the topping was really necessary as it was already branching a bit, but now it's really branching.

And here's a whole tent pic.

Just about a week until average last frost.

I ordered a bunch of "smart pots" and am trying to find a good spot for a raised bed too. Still not sure how I'm going to plant all these, even subtracting the plants I've promised to family and co-workers.

PaulG · Apr 6, 2019

Looks like about 80 plants in that pic!
How many are you going to keep?

Good luck making those decisions, and
getting to plant-out!

deolater · Apr 7, 2019

PaulG said:
Looks like about 80 plants in that pic!
How many are you going to keep?

Good luck making those decisions, and
getting to plant-out!

I'm planning to keep like 30-40.

Right now I have been giving the weaklings away to family and friends. I'm probably going to expand that to neighbors pretty soon...
Anyone in metro Atlanta want a plant or two? I'm hoping to do this as nonviolently as possible.

Today it's going to get above 80 degrees, and the sun is bright. Lots of people in my area are already planting, but with Georgia's late frosts, I'm not sure.

deolater · Apr 13, 2019

I've gone and put some of my plants OUTSIDE

They've been out a few days and no sign of stress, so I think it's early enough in the season that they didn't really need to be hardened-off.

I've been spending a fortune on potting mix and containers, and there's no end in sight.

Also, this:

I don't have a problem... it's just that I didn't have any fullblooded reapers.

Here's my current favorite plant. This guy LOOOVED the tent. I sure hope his peppers taste good, because I really like how the plant is growing

Storms coming tomorrow, I guess I'll be dragging these containers into the garage.

Oh yeah, I've given away a TON of plants.... but I also just started some more seeds. Maybe I do have a problem

podz · Apr 14, 2019

deolater said:
Storms coming tomorrow, I guess I'll be dragging these containers into the garage.

Why? Are you planning on doing that during every storm for the entire summer?

They are short and stocky now, best time to let the weather harden them up. More dangerous when they are already tall. I'd just put them along the edge of the house where they are somewhat protected from the downpour and just let them be.

deolater · Apr 14, 2019

podz said:
Why? Are you planning on doing that during every storm for the entire summer?

Whoa. Good point. I guess I'm a coddler deep down.

deolater · Apr 17, 2019

Between giving away plants and moving some outside, I can finally see the floor in my tent!

I may have started some seeds too...

PaulG · Apr 18, 2019

Alright, plants outside in GA! I am hoping we are
in the same boat here in mid-May

I may have started some seeds too...

Addict.

deolater · Apr 20, 2019

So what happened is my boss found this small scale hot sauce seller in Alabama and a few of us in the office were intrigued, so (to save on shipping) we put together a group order. My boss mentioned to the guy that I grow peppers and so he sent me A TON of seeds. Really cool guy, awesome hot sauce too. Maybe I should post a review.

I don't have the most refined palate though, so my review would mostly be "this stuff is awesome, check out http://www.earlsghost.com/".

From the bunch of varieties he sent me, I've started a couple types of scotch bonnets, yellow scorpions, two colors of primo, bbm, and "scotchbrain".

Totally not an addict, I just wouldn't want to be rude and ignore the cool seeds this guy gave me. Totally not an addict. Not at all.

Here's my updated grow list:

Fatalii Gourmet Jigsaw
Carolina Reaper x 7pot Douglah
Carolina Reaper x Clavo Red
7pot Primo x Purple Bhut
7pot Bubblegum Yellow
Purple Bhut Jolokia
White Fatalii
Numex twilight
Pink Habanero
Ramiro
Lemon drop
??
Chocolate Bhut
Montufar
Pequin
Cayenne fiesta mix
Jalapeno
Anaheim
Naglah Beast
Red Tiger
Yellow Scorpion
Scotch bonnet
scotch brain
chocolate scotch bonnet
red primo
chocolate primom
bb

I discovered that I accidentally gave away all my golden habs. Oh well.
Also, one of the runts that I just threw in a cup is growing my first pod of the year... I don't expect it to make it to full ripeness though,

Just shows that pepper plants are more resilient than I give them credit for.

PaulG · Apr 22, 2019

Pepper plants are resilient, indeed, Deo.

Your list shaped up nicely, nice variety of heat
along with some out there crosses. Good luck going
forward, maybe that pod will surprise you!

deolater · Apr 27, 2019

Here's the latest hardening-off group.

This group includes some of my best plants including the only no-heat varieties I held on to (unsurprisingly those were most popular when I was giving plants away to friends and neighbors, though my neighborhood surprised me by taking in a lot of superhots as well). Kept them inside until I was quite sure of the weather.

The tent is looking pretty bare.

I have a couple mason jar kratky experiments in there. Not sure they're taking, but it has only been a week.

I'll take a picture of the outside grow area (aka "the eyesore") later.

deolater · Apr 28, 2019

The two plants that survived the winter are doing really great. I still need the up-pot them.

Lemon drop:

Bishop's Crown

That lemon drop was one of my star performers last year, I'm hoping for even better things this year. The bishop's crown only produced like one pod, so maybe this head start will improve its performance.

Bhuter · Apr 28, 2019

Rockin' and a rollin'. Fill that tent up with more Annuums!!! Lol. J/k. Maybe use it to advance your experience with Bonchis! ‍

(I really have no idea...you might be a Bonchi-Master.) Looking forward to the FG Jigsaw. I think I have one seed. I've never grown that variety, but it's on next years' initial list. Lol

Noice!!!

podz · Apr 28, 2019

deolater said:
That lemon drop was one of my star performers last year, I'm hoping for even better things this year.

I grew a lemon drop outside last summer in a 6" pot and although it only grew to about 30cm tall it produced over 300 ripe pods. I had so many of them leftover that I decided not to grow it again this year. Prolific is an understatement for this cultivar.

deolater · Apr 28, 2019

Bhuter said:
Rockin' and a rollin'. Fill that tent up with more Annuums!!! Lol. J/k. Maybe use it to advance your experience with Bonchis! ‍ (I really have no idea...you might be a Bonchi-Master.) Looking forward to the FG Jigsaw. I think I have one seed. I've never grown that variety, but it's on next years' initial list. Lol

Noice!!!

I kind of am tempted to fill the tent with annuums! I have no bells. Only one jalapeno. I could really stand to have some more New Mexico types. I need to keep reminding myself that I have no room to any more things outside.
Over the summer the tent will probably grow greens, as it's already getting too hot for them outside.
Bonchis are definitely part of the plan, but I have no experience.

I'm really excited about the jigsaw too. I have two plants, one is doing well while the other self-topped and has been struggling a bit.

podz said:
I grew a lemon drop outside last summer in a 6" pot and although it only grew to about 30cm tall it produced over 300 ripe pods. I had so many of them leftover that I decided not to grow it again this year. Prolific is an understatement for this cultivar.

In a 6" pot?! That's amazing! I got about a liter of pods off of this one last year. It even produced a few pods in my garage during the winter with just a tiny window for light. Prolific is definitely an understatement!
How much summer do y'all even get in Helsinki?

Bhuter · Apr 28, 2019

deolater said:
I kind of am tempted to fill the tent with annuums! I have no bells. Only one jalapeno. I could really stand to have some more New Mexico types. I need to keep reminding myself that I have no room to any more things outside.
Over the summer the tent will probably grow greens, as it's already getting too hot for them outside.
Bonchis are definitely part of the plan, but I have no experience.

I'm really excited about the jigsaw too. I have two plants, one is doing well while the other self-topped and has been struggling a bit.

In a 6" pot?! That's amazing! I got about a liter of pods off of this one last year. It even produced a few pods in my garage during the winter with just a tiny window for light. Prolific is definitely an understatement!
How much summer do y'all even get in Helsinki?

Yes! I'm thinking of putting Hatch and Pueblo on next years' list, too. At least find some true seeds.

I have a moderate season length. I currently have 42 or so varieties. But for some reason, I just started like 20 more seeds tonight! ‍

Every year it's the same thing...I don't wanna start...ok, I'll choose seeds...2 months later...still choosing/adding varieties....over my limit...what limit??....

We love Bishop's Crowns diced up into crab salad.

podz · Apr 29, 2019

deolater said:
In a 6" pot?! That's amazing! I got about a liter of pods off of this one last year. It even produced a few pods in my garage during the winter with just a tiny window for light. Prolific is definitely an understatement!
How much summer do y'all even get in Helsinki?

Helsinki is in equivalent to US Zone 6b. Sunlight is already 16 hours per day now and reaches 19 hours per day at the solstice on June 21. At the top of Finland (Lapland) the sun doesn't even set at all during the summer for 3 months period or so.

Thermal summer (nighttime temps 10c or above) usually begins first or second week in June, but half of April and all of May can be summerish in the daytime. Last summer, we had over 100 days of sunshine and 63 days with temps higher than 25c (77f). Summer dragged on until almost the middle of September or so.

The lemon drop, I bought it from a store during May already almost at the flowering stage. I put the plants outside during the day and hauled them into my bedroom at night, off and on for several weeks depending on the nighttime temps. When they finally moved outside for the summer, they were connected to my drip irrigation system with liquid nutrients. There was an Apache growing right next to it and it produced a similar amount of pods.

deolater · Apr 29, 2019

podz said:
Helsinki is in equivalent to US Zone 6b. Sunlight is already 16 hours per day now and reaches 19 hours per day at the solstice on June 21. At the top of Finland (Lapland) the sun doesn't even set at all during the summer for 3 months period or so.

Thermal summer (nighttime temps 10c or above) usually begins first or second week in June, but half of April and all of May can be summerish in the daytime. Last summer, we had over 100 days of sunshine and 63 days with temps higher than 25c (77f). Summer dragged on until almost the middle of September or so.

The lemon drop, I bought it from a store during May already almost at the flowering stage. I put the plants outside during the day and hauled them into my bedroom at night, off and on for several weeks depending on the nighttime temps. When they finally moved outside for the summer, they were connected to my drip irrigation system with liquid nutrients. There was an Apache growing right next to it and it produced a similar amount of pods.

Thanks for the climate lesson! I guess I had imagined Helsinki colder. Probably tripped up assuming latitude = climate; 60N latitude sounds practically arctic from down here at 33N.

Now that I think about it, I shouldn't be surprised at all that Finland is good for peppers, considering over half my seeds come from Finland. I bet your cooler summers help with fruit set, which kind of paused here for me during August.

For comparison, the average high (per month) in Atlanta is above 24C fMay through September (inclusive) and the average low is above 10C for April-October (inclusive).

Next year I'm experimenting with drip irrigation.

deolater · Apr 29, 2019

Bhuter said:
Yes! I'm thinking of putting Hatch and Pueblo on next years' list, too. At least find some true seeds.

I have a moderate season length. I currently have 42 or so varieties. But for some reason, I just started like 20 more seeds tonight! ‍ Every year it's the same thing...I don't wanna start...ok, I'll choose seeds...2 months later...still choosing/adding varieties....over my limit...what limit??....

We love Bishop's Crowns diced up into crab salad.

I have one or two plants of "Anaheim" seeds that claim on the packet to be numex Joe E Parker. If they grow well this year, I'll probably do a whole bed of them. On paper they're like the perfect mild pepper. One of my friends went to New Mexico on business, but didn't smuggle any seeds back even though I asked nicely.

20 more seeds TONIGHT? You're worse than me!

I really want to plant more, but I'm starting to fear getting a letter from my HOA about my field of pots, which even I have to acknowledge is ugly. Next year I'll build beds and look more professional. I only have seeds for ~5 more varieties that I haven't planted yet. But I'm resisting.

I also need to remind myself that with all the crosses I'm growing, I really should save room for squeezing in a second generation of any pods I like the look of.

So are bishop's crown hot? I've read conflicting reports online.

You have reminded me I should see an allergist to sort out whether I'm really allergic to shellfish BEFORE my beach vacation next month...

podz · Apr 29, 2019

deolater said:
Thanks for the climate lesson! I guess I had imagined Helsinki colder. Probably tripped up assuming latitude = climate; 60N latitude sounds practically arctic from down here at 33N.

Now that I think about it, I shouldn't be surprised at all that Finland is good for peppers, considering over half my seeds come from Finland. I bet your cooler summers help with fruit set, which kind of paused here for me during August.

Jukka (Fataliiseeds.net) doesn't grow those peppers outside, he has greenhouses :-) But in general, yes I think the cool summer nights help.

If you want something that will really bake your noodle, think about this: Anchorage, Alaska (61N) is further north than Helsinki and it is:

Anchorage, Alaska is in USDA Hardiness Zones 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b and 7a .

Deolater 2019

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